Land leveler



J. M. RAE ET AL LAND LEVELER Feb. 13, 1940.

Filed Jan. 26, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 13, 1940. J. M. RAE Er AL LANDLEVELER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jn. 26, 1939 @wk N Patented Feb. 13,194() UNITEDV STATES PATENT oFFlcE LAND LEVELER Application January26,1939, Serial No. 252,968

In Canada January 29, 1938 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a land leveler of the type in which a scraperis drawn over the land .and the action of the scraper results in theirregularities being smoothed out.

In a leveler of this kind the scraper is generally adjusted to such aheight as to remove or disturb a given surface layer of land. This isnecessary if all the holes are to be filled by one passage of thescraper. On the other hand, this results in a large amount of wasteenergy, since in most cases a large portion of the land is alreadylevel. Attempts have been made to overcome this by providing the levelerwith an adinstable scraper which can be movedr up or down byA anoperator stationed on the leveler, this movement being accomplishedeither manually or in the case of large scrapers by a motor.

It is an object of the present invention to o'vercome thesedisadvantages' of known levelers and to provide a scraper which israised and lowered automatically as holes or bumps are respectivelytransversed by the leveler. It is also an object of the invention toadapt an automatic leveler of this kind to manual, as distinguished fromautomatic adjustment, of the scraper so that the latter can be raised orlowered independently of its automatic action when extreme conditionsare encountered.

According to the present invention, a leveler consists essentially oftwo longitudinal members and a scraper mounted between and at rightangles to them, the scraper being movable substantially vertically withrespect to the frame and having its vertical movement controlled bymeans which is responsive to irregularities in the land. The responsivemeans is operatively connected to the scraper and positioned in front ofit so that when a bump, is encountered the scraper is lowered, andconversely for a hole or declevity the scraper is raised.

The invention will be further understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment thereof.

in the drawings:

Figure l is aside elevation of a land leveler according to theinvention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the leveler illustrated in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional 4elevation taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken along the line 4 4 ofFig. 2 and showing particularly the manual means for lowering thescraper, and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation taken along the line 5--5 of Fig. 2showing the arrangement for automatically controlling the action oi.'the scraper and illustrating the manual means for raising it.

The frame of the scraper is made up of two 5 longitudinal channelmembers I, connected at either end by shoes 2 which carry the weight ofthe leveler, the one at the rear end of the leveler .serving also tosmooth out the ground disturbed by the scraper. As shown in Fig. 1 theconvex 10 surface of the shoes faces towards the forward end of themachine.

The frame is stiffened by front struts 3 and rear struts 4 which cutdiagonally across the corners formed by the shoes in the longitudinal lmembers. The struts of each pair meet at the longitudinal centre line ofthe leveler, the rear pair being riveted to a vertical plate 5 extendingupwardly from the rear shoe. The frame further includes a transversechannel member 6 towards its forward end and a lighter cross member 'lslightly behind the mid portion of the leveler. A longitudinal member 8extends from the transverse member 6 to the forward shoe 2. The member 8and the two forward struts 25 3 are riveted to a plate 9 carried by theshoe 2. This plate 9 includes a tongue Il), the leveler being attachedby the plate and tongue to the tractor or horses which are to draw itover the ground. y

A scraper II'and means operatively connected to it and responsive to theirregularities in the ground are mounted on the frame between thetransverse members 6 and 1. The scraper is supported by two arms I2pivoted in yokes I3, 35 the latter extending from and carried by themember 6. The outer leg of each yoke is also riveted to its adjacentlongitudinal member. This mounting of the scraper permits it to movesubstantially vertically in a slight arc so that as 40 it movesupwardly, it moves at the same time slightly rearwardly.

Two second arms I4 are also pivoted in the yokes. These latter arms areon the inside of the arms I2 and carry at their free end a shoe 45 l5which is the means responsive to the irregularities in the ground. Whenthe' scraper is drawn over the ground the shoe I5 by reason of thepivotal mounting of the arms carrying it is free to move up or downdepending upon the 50 prole of the ground passed over `by the leveler.This shoe is operatively connected to the scraper by vertical members orlinks I6 which are pivotally attached to the arms I4 adjacent the shoe.At the upper end the vertical members are pivotu ally connected to leverI1 carried by` and fulcrumed on columns I8, the latter being rigidlymounted on the longitudinal members of the frame. The other end of thelevers I1 is pivotally connected to a vertical member or link I9 similarto the one connected to the shoe, but attached to-the scraper. ThememberI9 is pivoted to the arm |2 carrying the scraper. By this arrangement ofthe pivotally connected members the shoe, being raised as the levelerpasses over a bump in the ground, forces the link I6 upward and themovement of the latter causes the opposite end of the lever I1 to bedepressed so thatthe link I9 is also moved downwardly and the scrapermade to bite into the ground `as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The vertical member I6 has its forward edge provided with teeth orindentations 20 which engage a pin 2| carried by the lever I1. The pin2| can be selectively placed in any one of the teeth 20. In this way theeiective length of the member I6 is altered and the cut made by thescraper for a given position of the shoe 'is deeper or shallower. Aspring 22 attached at one end to the link I6 and at the other end to anextension 23 of the arm I4 maintains a positive engagement between thepin and the teeth so that there is no possibility of them slipping outof engagement.

Referring to Figure 5, it will be seen that the member I9 is made up oftwo pivotally connected parts 24 and 25, the upper one extending abovethe lever |1 and having a rope 26 attached to it. The upper end of thelower part is forked and the upper part is pivoted to the lower betweenthe forks. The upper part also carries at its pivot point an extension21 to thev end of which a spring 28 is connected and also connected tothe lower part 25. Tension on the rope 26 causes the member 24 to pivotabout the point 29 at which it is joined to the lever I1. As a resultthe lower part 25 is drawn upward and with it the scraper so that anyearth carried by the scraper is unloaded. The spring 28 serves to bringthe scraper and the member I9 back into the automatic acting positionwhile the member 21 effectively prevents any bending of the member I9 inthe opposite direction.

The posts I8 which carry the main lever of the automatic mechanism arerigidly connected by a transverse member 3D. At approximately mid pointof the latter, there is a strut 3| between it and the member 1. Anenlongated curved lever 32 is pivoted on this strut and has a tensionmember 33 which may either be wire or rope, attached to its upper end.The lower end is pivotally connected to a link 34 which in turn ispivotally connected to a reinforced rib 35 on the back of the scraper.The curve on the lower portion of the lever 32 is such that tension onthe member 33 forces the lever 34 downward and makes the scraper bitedeeper into the ground.

At the rear end of the leveler there is a roller 36. This roller iscarried by two arms 31 extending rearwardly from the longitudinalmembers of the frame and bolted to said members. This roller may be usedin combination with the rear shoe 2, or it may be mounted directlybetween the longitudinal members and replaces the shoe so that itcarries the weight of the rear portion of the frame. As shown in thedrawings the members 31, as well as the shoe 2 are mounted on the frameby nut and bolt connections to permit this replacement.

In operation the connection between the lever I1 and the link IB is setat such a point as to provide the desired cut. The leveler is thendragged over the ground. When a bump is encountered the front part ofthe frame is raised and the scraper is correspondingly raised so thatthe cut made by it is shallower. However, as the bump is approached itacts upon the movable shoe I5 so that this shoe is raised and' thescraper correspondingly lowered. Thus the cut made by the scraper iskept even. On the other hand when a declevity in the ground is reachedthe rear of the frame has a tendency to make the cut of the scraperdeeper. However, here again as the movable shoe drops into the declevitythe scraper is raised and the soil carried by the latter is dropped intothe hole. From the arrangement of the arms carrying the movable shoe andthe scraper, it will be seen that while the shoe on encountering a bumpmoves in an upward and rearward arc the scraper which is descending ismoved downwardly and forwardly so that its cut is made at approximatelythat point which causes it to be lowered.

Various modifications may be made in this invention without departingfrom the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims, and therefore theexact forms shown are to be taken as illustrative only and not in alimiting sense, and it is desired that only such limitations shall beplaced thereon as are disclosed in the prior art orare set forth in theaccompanying claims.

We claim:

l. A land leveler comprising a frame including two longitudinal members,an arm pivoted on the frame inwardly of each member, a scraperpositioned between the members at right angles thereto and supported bythe arms, a second arm pivoted at each side of the frame, a shoe adaptedto follow the elevation of the ground joining said second arms and beingin front of the scraper, a lever pivotally mounted on each longitudinalmember at a point between the shoe and the scraper, a link pivotallyconnected to one end of each lever and pivotally connected to thescraper, a second link pivotally connected at each end of the shoe andcooperating means for providing adjustable pivotal engagement betweensaid second link and the lever.

2. A land leveler comprising a frame including two longitudinal members,an arm pivoted on the frame inwardly of each member, a scraperpositioned between the members at right angles thereto and supported bythe arms, a second arm pivoted at each side of the frame, a transversemember adapted to follow the elevation of the ground, joining saidsecond arms and being in front of the scraper, a lever pivoted on theframe intermediate its ends and extending between the scraper and thetransverse member, a link pivoted to the end of the lever adjacent thescraper and having its lower end pivotally connected to the scraper,said link being composed of pivotally connected upper and lowerportions, an extension on one portion, a spring between the extensionand a point intermediate the ends of the other portion, the upperportion of said link extending upwardly beyond its pivotal connection tothe lever and a second link pivotally connected to the remaining end ofeach lever and the transverse member.

3. A land leveler comprising a frame including two longitudinal members,an arm pivoted at the frame on each side thereof, a scraper positionedbetween the members at right angles thereto and supported by the arms, asecond arm pivoted at each side of `the frame, a transverse memberadapted to follow the elevation of the ground joining said second armsand being in front of the scraper, a lever pivotally mounted on eachlongitudinal member between the scraper and the transverse member, alink pivotally connected to

